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Research Report

Introduction
My research on a New Zealand Maori author is on Witi Ihimaera. He ha s vigorous output as a novelist, short story writer, editor and lecture at the University of Auckland. He became the first published Maori novelist by publishing Tangi in 1973.This novel won New Zealand’s most exalted award, the Wattie Book of the year award. ‘ Pounamu, Pounamu’ (1672), was the first short story collection published by a Maori. I read six of his short stories ‘Gathering Of The Whakapapa’, The Greenstone Patu’, ‘A Game OF Cards’, ‘Fire On Greenstone’, ‘Yellow Brick Road and Return From Oz’. I have done many researches of bibliography on internet to find out more about Witi Ihimaera’s writing.
What issues does Witi Ihimaera deal with?
Most of Witi ihmaera’s writing high lights contemporary of Maori and values of their tradition. All the stories I read has the central features of his imaginative landscape is the Whanau (family community). The stories develop an emotional and cultural value and tradition of Maori.
In the two short stories, ‘A Game OF Cards’ and ‘Fire On Greenstone’ are explores significance of Maori tradition and the respect toward the death in Maori community. The Waituhi village people make Nanny Miro journey to end with happy thoughts by doing something that she always enjoy playing. “The old ladies sat around the bed, playing. Everybody else decided to play cards too, too keep Nanny Company. The man played poker in the kitchen and sitting room. The kids players, even onto the lawn outside nanny window, where she could see.” This emphasis the Strong bonds in the community even in someone death. The story of ‘Fire On Greenstone’ moves in Nanny Miro’s memorise and deal with significant of Maori culture features and losses of them. “And I begun to notice that in some places the paint was flaking from the wooden boards, that a spider had strung its web undisturbed among the delicate lattice – work, or that there was a pile of empty beer bottles heaped in the long grass in the front of the homestead.” The situation of homestead enlightens that the losses of culture features as there are not many people in Waituhi. Maori people have moved from Waituhi. This became an issues that significant of culture feature was left alone as there are not many look after them.
In the short story of ‘Gathering Of The Whakapapa’ the issue that Witi Ihimaera was developing the Significant of Maori tradition to Maori. The issues are transacted by rewriting the burnt Whakapapa (family genealogy). In the ‘Gathering Of The Whakapapa’, the Whakapapa shows how important element is this in Maori tradition. “There was time yet to dig again our toes into the earth and shout our challenge to the changing world: this is us, this is our history, this is our land and we together are the tangata whenua, the people of this land.” This strong voice emphasise how imperative the Whakapapa to Maori and letting them to know who are they are and what are their culture and tradition meant to them. In Witi Ihimaera stories culture not just was an aspect he look at it. He also has making awareness of values and tradition in Maori culture and why are they have to be treasured.
In short story of “The Greenstone patu , Witi Ihimaera deal with the issue of need to retain culture values in the modern world. “It belongs to us. It belongs to the Mahana family. We have lost so much and we must try to regain everything that we can. For the future, son. For the future generation……” In this story, the issue of the challenges of retaining the lost Greenstone Patu were developed between Maori and Pakeha. The Greenstone represent as possessions valued of Maori culture.
In ‘Yellow Brick Road and Return From Oz’ Witi Ihimaera approaches different issues from other stories. He discussed about racism between Maori and Pakeha. Poverty was main issues why Maori people have move from their village. In the short story of ‘Yellow Brick Road’ lack of jobs and money in Waituhi drawn this family to Wellington city. “I want us to have a good life, a new start.” “A new start for my kids. Me and Hine, we’ve always had nothing. But my kids? They’re going to grow up with everything. I will fight for it, because they must have it.” The two culture overlap each other however older ones in the family always reminding their roots to the new generation “ And the best way to do this return to Waituhi, to draw you there so you can get to know your Maori home while I am still living and even long after I’ve gone.”





How does Witi Ihimaera develop the issues?
In ‘A Game OF Cards’ the issues of respect that the Maori community had with death developed through the character actions. “The old ladies sat around the bed, playing. Everybody else decided to play cards too, too keep Nanny Company. The man played poker in the kitchen and sitting room. The kids players, even onto the lawn outside nanny window, where she could see.” This specific event showed the bond in that community. In the ‘Gathering of the Whakapapa’, the significant of Maori tradition in their Whanau developed from the village people action. “The village should have been asleep but no, there they were, waiting for us.” They are united together and care for each other.
In short stories of ‘A Game OF Cards’ and Fire On Greenstone’ Homestead symbolised the tradition of Maori culture and how their valued tradition thing are kept in. “The homestead wasn’t just four walls and rooms. It was the Manawa, the heart of the whanau, the heart of the family, and my Nanny Tama’s heart too.”
The Significant of Maori tradition to Maori was expanded through dialogue between the stories characters. In the ‘Gathering of the Whakapapa’ the dialogue of the narrator develop the issues of the tradition and cultural values of Maori to Maori. “Oh yes! Because it gives me unison with the universe. It tells me that I am not alone or ever will be. It waves me into a pattern of life that began at world’s creation and will be here till the world’s end.” This make the Maori to realise about their culture values.
Several short stories of Witi Ihimaera are structured in current events and flash back. In the stories of ‘Fire On Greenstone’, ‘The Greenstone Patu’ and ‘A Game of Cards’ have linked with past and current events. In ‘Fire On Greenstone’ the flash back and present takes the reader back to the narrator’s childhood and brings them back the present world of his. “As a small boy, I used to think it was like. Like a palace.” “But my eyes were not those of a child any longer. And somehow, the homestead has grown smaller as I’d grown taller. As the years went by, it seemed less something glimpsed on the other side of the rainbow.




In the ‘TheGreenstone patu’, the one of lost twin Greenstone Patu itself symbolised the important of Maori culture tradition and retain those values in the modern world. “The world hasn’t changed that much that we forget about ourselves has it? Even if it has, then perhaps we need our patu ponuamu more than we think. To fight back with, to use a weapon. To remind us who we are.” Greenstone semi-precious jade traditionally used to make jewellery and weaponry. In this story Greenstone appears in Auntie Hiraina to rejoin with it twin one and to possession of that Greenstone.
The ‘Yellow Brick road’ symbolized new path in life. The long travel to gets their new destination with hopes to have better life for their child. Things they have in their car which called as a “Junk stuff” represent the life of Maori have in Waituhi. The condition of the car and the stuff that they loaded in the car symbolised their poverty. “ This junk is all we’ve ever had.” They only had fruit picking job back in Waituhi and they did not make much money out that job. The lifestyle in Waituhi less developed.
In the short story of ‘Return From Oz’ the challenges of Maori living in Pakeha world develop through the symbolism. The “ Return From Oz” symbolised disappointment in life to archive their dream in Pakeha world. This story alluded to the ‘The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz’, as Doroty journey to a magic world inside Kansas in the Wizard. In the movie of ‘The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz’ the Emerald city is a place that were filled with all the magic and happiness. In this story city of “Oz” was the wellington city it was predominately dominated by Pakeha. The narrator childhood imagination and dream place was wellington city. Since they arrival it was the different city from their thought. They are failure to stand against Pakeha world. “Pakeha way is hard to fight and it is much easier to give on to it, drift along with it.” The feeling of loss culture made them to go back to Waituhi.


Has Witi Ihimaera changed the ideas he deals with in his writing over time?
In Witi Ihimaeara’s short stories, there have been changes over time in his ideas within his writing. The main ideas remain the same about Maori culture. However, through time new ideas were introduced. His views expanded out of the Maori culture and now he writes about being Maori in the Pakeha world. He presents the ideas of why the Maori people moved to the city and their feelings about city life.
In ‘Yellow brick Road’ the family moves to Wellington to find a better future for their children. “I want us to have a good life, a new start.” “A new start for my kids. Me and Hine, we’ve always had nothing. But my kids? They’re going to grow up with everything. I will fight for it, because they must have it.” Poverty in Waituhi draws their family to move to Wellington. For the boy the Wellington is Emerald city, where he thinks his family will be having a better life.
The same idea was presented in ‘Return from Oz’. But in that story Witi Ihimaera developed the conflicts between Maori and Pakeha from Nanny Tama’s dialogue. “Pakeha way is hard to fight and it is much easier to give on to it, drift along with it.” The confliction between two cultures has deeply set idea of re-lift up the culture and remaining the new generation about their root and who they are. “You just keep remember you are Maori blood.”
In the ‘The Greenstone Patu’, Auntie Hiraina said “This place is no good for you. The heart cannot survive here. It lost its warmth and forgets to stir the blood.” The city life has lost the love of family. City life described as life without love and not caring for other people in the community. There is no unity in the community or Whanau.

Conclusion
The main issues in Witi Ihimaera’s writings are about Maori and their culture. Even though he has changed his issues, the main themes still remain the same about Maori. In Witi’ Ihimaera’s second short story collection of ‘The New Net Goes Fishing’, he brought the culture out of Waituhi to Wellington city and explored the variation between the two cultures. His writing is not just important to Maori, his writing introduced New Zealand literature to the world.




Bibliography
Author:Witi Ihimaera collection:‘Pounamu, Pounam’
publication: Heinemann Education, a Division of Octopus publishing group (NZ) Ltd. 1972.

Author:Witi Ihimaera collection‘The New Net Goes Fishing’
publication: Heinemann Education 1977